“You’re already doing it by being here.”
It wasn’t enough. But then, nothing felt like enough. She wanted to take away his pain. To make this mess better, but she couldn’t.
A knock sounded at the door, and this time her cousin Jesse stepped in. He wore his sheriff uniform, and his usual easygoing smile was nowhere to be seen.
“How’s she doing?” Jesse asked somberly.
Colt shook his head. “Not too good. Head injury is the worst. I need to know what happened.”
“Until one of them wakes up, I won’t have the details. But from what I can piece together, your mother and Ben were leaving the community center. She left bridge early and thepeople inside heard a gunshot. They called us, and one of the elderly members of the group had a gun. But by the time he got out there, he saw your father running away. Your mother was unconscious between the community center and the parking lot, and Ben was bleeding out by your mother’s car.”
“My father shot Ben, my mom tried to run, and he caught her and beat her.”
“That’s what it looks like,” Jesse confirmed quietly. “And he took your mother’s purse.”
Nausea punched Indie in the belly. Gordon was so desperate for money that he’d shoot a man and beat a woman, only to take her purse?
“As soon as she wakes, we’ll get her to cancel her bank cards,” Jesse added. “We’ve also stationed someone outside her house in case he’s stupid enough to try and access it with the keys that were in her purse.”
“Is Ben okay?” Colt asked through gritted teeth.
“He’s in surgery.”
“Where is he?” Colt growled, and both Jesse and Indie knew he was talking about Gordon.
Frustration brimmed on Jesse’s face. “We’re looking for him.”
“I need to find him.”
Jesse stepped closer. “No.Youdon’t. You need to let me do my job.”
“And what? Wait for the asshole to attack again? Fuck that.” He took a step toward the door, but this time Indie rushed to step in front of him.
“Colt. Stop.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Jesse will find him. Please, trust him. Right now, your mother needs you.Ineed you.”
The veins in his arms popped, but finally he turned back toward Jesse and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Fine.”
“Go home. There’s nothing more you can do here,” Jesse said. “Get some rest. I’ll put my deputies on the door.”
When Colt didn’t move, Indie took his hand and slipped her fingers through his. “Come on.”
The drive home was quiet. Colt barely said a word, and she didn’t knowwhatto say. There weren’t any words for situations like this. She just had to sit with him in this hard moment and be the support he needed.
Her mind flicked back to his mother in the hospital bed. The injuries she’d sustained.
Her ex-husband had done that. Someone she’d once trusted and loved. Someone she’d had a child with.
That was why she didn’t trust Indie.
It made sense now. She’d trusted someone with her son before, and he’d hurt both of them. Now she’d always be afraid of history repeating itself. Noah was right. It wouldn’t have mattered who Colt had chosen.
When they reached the house, Indie stepped into the kitchen. “I’ll heat up the Chinese for dinner.”
Colt scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not really hungry. I might take a shower.” He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her temple before leaving the room.
She hated this. All of it. They needed to find Gordon, and soon, and when they did, that asshole needed to be locked up so he couldn’t hurt Colt or Sylvia anymore.
She took the takeout containers from the fridge. She’d just set them onto the counter when her phone buzzed with a call.
